How Michael Eisner Became Disney's Renaissance Man | Disney Legends
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- Michael Eisner might not have the greatest reputation among some fans but he did add a great deal to the Disney Company legacy.
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When comparing the Eisner era to the Iger era, Eisner may come out looking better.
True. Definitely true.
Though there were misreadings and mistakes on his end, there's no doubt that the good Eisner did for the company out-wieghed the bad. At least in my opinion.
I know your comment is over 3 years old, but I just felt the need to respond because you brought up some good points with this comment you made from back then.
I find michael eisner's tenure as Disney's CEO from 1984-2005 really fascinating! There is no question when he became CEO in 1984, the Disney company was on the verge of breaking up and he helped turn the company around by the time Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Little Mermaid were released in 1988 and 1989 respectively! By the early 1990's, it was obvious he helped transform the company into a strong world wide empire and entering the Disney Renaissance!!
I think everything really fell apart for Eisner in 1994 when Frank Wells sadly died in a helicopter crash and would appoint Jeffrey Katzenburg to Well's position in that same year, leading to a terrible fall out with Katzenburg, leading to him forming Dreamworks at the same time! After that and by the late 1990's, there's is no doubt Eisner's leadership in the Disney Company was faltering! By the early 00's with Disney only producing lukewarm sequels and failing at the box office, even Roy E disney resigned from the company in 2003, not liking how bad Eisner was doing as CEO!
With stuff mounting against Eisner terribly through 2004 and into early 2005, Eisner made the announcement to step down as CEO of Disney in March 2005 and made it official in September of that year! Bob Iger took over and has been CEO since!
I personally think Eisner was great as CEO from when he started in 1984 till about mid 1990's, but obviously after that, the rest is history! I have not read the book Disney War but I can get an idea of the true stuff that happened during Eisner's tenure!
Spot on with your analysis!
Just remember Eisner almost sold pixar
Eisner is certainly deserves the credit from bringing Disney back into the forefront and jump starting the Renaissance . I guess you can say that his flaw was focusing too much on the business aspects of the company and not enough of the quality of the film they were making during the later half of his reign. I have my own issued with Katzenberg, but there's no denying he, Wells and Eisner made Disney a Great Company Again.
Alpha Jay 3.0 Yes
Agreed. When the dream team was torn apart, it was too much for him to bear. He did his best but his ability ran dry in the late 90’s
To bad Trump couldn’t make America great again.
@@mechajay3358 lol
@@harrygardner7257
What does that even mean? To make America great "again." What was this "magical" time in which America was great?
“See you at Disneyland...BRING MONEY.”
-Michael Eisner
"you betray the share holders" punch and Eisner falls
He made Disney about the bottom line. The profiteering that Disney engages in now was all started by him. BUT, without Eisner the Disney brand would have been cut up by now, and the company we love would be a shadow of its current glory.
I think this is right on. Yes, he ended up making some poor decisions based more on monetary gain than anything but the company wouldn't exist without him and Frank Wells. -Angie
Cameron Stewart Of course
I'm not sure I would have minded seeing it cut up.
So THAT'S why I knew him as the man who always appeared right before a Disney movie aired on TV. I only had vague memories of that.
Yes, he did turn the company around, but he made a fatal mistake. He once said to become successful, hire people who are smarter than you. But after Wells died, he wanted to run the company by himself. That’s what caused Roy Disney to start the coup to oust him. To find out the nitty gritty, read Disney War. It’s quite insightful.
Michael Ovitz was also brought in at one point but it didn't click. I think Eisner wasn't prepared to lead by himself and didn't really want to lead by himself, but after Ovitz didn't work out and Katzenberg was booted there wasn't anyone that fit into that President role like Frank Wells. It's a "what if" scenario but I think Eisner wouldn't be as despised as he is had Frank lived. Because Eisner is one man he became the scapegoat, the same as we are seeing now with Bob Iger. I actually think the company needs two heads for the sake of publicity as well as it seems like the company just runs better that way. -Josh
Eisner now owns a majority stake in English football/soccer club Portsmouth and they're doing well.
He also seem happy in his life after Disney rather than resentful.
Despite his flaws this man was responsible for saving Disney in a time that they were struggling I would much rather have him back on board running things again instead of the current people that's running Disney right now
True that!
Disney was in a rough hole since Walt had died. Just as Eisner was on board, it took a couple of swings until they got some singles, doubles, and definitely some home runs. If you take out many misses, especially when a small Canadian company named Nelvana had the highest grossing cartoon movie of 1985, there's something to be amazed about. Their biggest hit came out in 1989 which did shaped the company to become universally loved once again.
Agree. I think many people tend to dislike Eisner for his later years but the sheer amount of good he did for Disney can't be understated. Thanks for the comment! -Josh
@@ModernMouse Thank you. I like to share something Eisner states in the Disneywar book "Success tends to make you forget what made you successful, andjust when you least suspect it, the big error shifts the game".
Now as we are in the Iger/Chapek era (come into mind they keep relying on established IPs instead of new concepts)
With Disney producing multiple live action remakes with big names while pushing hand drawn animation down to the wayside, now only existing through television and overseas studios. The CG films are great, but I love the style of hand drawn/2D animation.
Another thing.
I wish Hollywood went back to the singles and doubles philosophy.
Today when Hollywood relies on the "Yes, but..." philosophy (hard hit since Frank Wells was killed in 1994), tentpoles, spectacle, and celebrities, maybe we should look back at a time when no name actors (even voice actors to an extent) got their moment to shine, when movies with low/modest budgets do modestly well, and when studios took a chance on out of the box concepts (or twists on done before story beats), or at least good scripts with good story. This goes for Disney when putting many pointless live action remakes on their lineup.
This is what Hollywood needs now. Hire unknowns, sometimes stay away from big names and try something different. Try new concepts/story ideas. Don't rely too much on franchise pictures/reboots.
My philosophy on the art of filmmaking means more than ever since Martin Scorsese has said Marvel movies aren't cinema, but more like theme parks.
@@rwinger2481 I agree that there should be some more low budget films put into production. Risks just aren't really being taken. In the 90s there were movies like Heavyweights, A Goofy Movie, Hocus Pocus, Rocketeer. All of those movies made a little bit of money initially but they've all become cult classics, and if Disney is looking to play the long game, can be re-released, or merchandised, or whatever. Small movies are just as important. -Josh
Eu sou gaúcho de porto alegre, e por isso estou escrevendo em portugues. Mas falando sobre o ex-chefão da Disney Michael Eisner, ele foi um dos maiores expoentes da Disney na TV Brasileira, graças aos acordos com o SBT e a Globo, principalmente por conta do antigo Disney Club que passava nas duas emissoras (versões comum e talk show do zé carioca na globo de 1993 a 1996 e a versão famosa da TV Cruj no SBT de 1997 a 2003). Além disso, o sucessor Bob Iger contou em seu livro "Onde os sonhos acontecem" que Eisner "refundou" a Disney por causa dos desenhos dos anos 90 (a pequena sereia, a bela e a fera, aladdin, rei leão, toy story, etc.) que mudaram a cara dos estudios, além de expandir os parques, unir os personagens da disney com os dos estúdios concorrentes no filme do Roger Rabbit, mudar o nome da empresa de Walt Disney productions para Walt Disney Company, e acima de tudo, dar inicio á minha paixão pela disney, que Bob Iger aumentou ainda mais. Eisner comandou os 21 anos mais mágicos da história da Disney, de 1984 a 2005, se tornando o "refundador" do mundo encantado do Walt Disney. Por causa dele que sou fã da Disney desde pequeno.
Eisner grew and expanded the parks and Disney World
I thank you michael eisner ,
Iger was NOT a favorite of Eisner's. Eisner yanked Iger around for the better part of a decade. Because of Eisner's reluctance to create a succession plan, Iger never knew where he stood. Eisner may have publicly expressed confidence in Iger, but in private he was frequently much more dismissive. (Source: 'DisneyWar,' James B. Stewart, 2005)
Eisner was Waaay better than Iger
Well, even though he was more of a business entrepreneur who wasn't as experienced on the whole art front, I can definitely say that Eisner was ambitious, and that his ambitions did get the company to where it is now. I know he gets a lot of flack for being a "greedy business figure", some of the complaints to his decisions are justified to some level, even if they tend to be over-zealous to a fault. But when it comes to business, the truth will always be more than "evil business guy just wants to reach people's wallets for selfish reasons"! There were lots of other factors riding on his shoulders (some of that being that Katzenburg's departure from the studio to form Dreamworks was supposedly just his way of sticking it to Eisner for robbing him of his position as chairman).
Some people will remember Eisner for giving us the Disney Renaissance and all those beloved films, others will remember him for exploiting said films with dozens of cheap, low-quality, straight-to-video sequels. But Eisner did say once that their purpose was not to make history or legends with the films they created, their purpose was to make money and let history come from that. Wanting to get profitable to make a business grow can definitely have its benefits, but the money being a studio's be-all-end-all for making products will only take them so far before it causes major problems for a company and the quality of the products stagnate.
Say what you will about Walt and his capitalist ideals (as well as whether or not he was a truly terrible person), he was good at balancing the vision of art AnD business. His philosophy was, "We make films to make money so that we can make more films."
Of course, when Iger took over and made John Lasseter the chief creative officer of Disney's animation department, and Lasseter went ahead to put more quality into their animated films that they have significantly lost in the mid-90s, and is undoubtedly one of the reasons the studio is where it is now. Unfortunately, HE was just thrown at the end of last year for decades of sexual misconduct and unprofessional behavior! So yeah, this whole thing about who a business man really is and how that reflects in the quality of the products he/she puts out, is a difficult choice to answer. All one can say is that the bigger the corporation, the trickier the balancing act between decisions that make or break a studio vs. one's personal character.
Without Frank Wells it seems like Eisner got lost and when Katzenberg left and screwed him over a bit that definitely was something a nail in the coffin for Eisner. He continued to try and swim, but I think he needed his team of guys that he could trust in to help him correct course but they just weren't there by the end of the 90s. -Angie
@@ModernMouse That is definitely a valid point!
Yes
Eisner era was really an impact of the 90's however after katzenburg's departure from Disney when the mid 90's came it was declining when Pocahontas was didn't made big after the lion king while john lasseter started his success at pixar started with CG animated film toy story, and as the 2000's came Eisner's era declined more when the post renaissance with the exception of lilo and stitch didn't do well while katzenberg made a success with dreamworks started with an ogre named Shrek.
There are definitely lots of factors as to why Eisner wasn't as great in the late 90s and early 00s. Katzenburg leaving and starting Dreamworks was a big one. I'd also put the death of Frank Wells in there too...and Eisner really focused on expanding the Disney theme parks rather than pushing to do more with the films. -Josh
Eisner gets a lot of flack, but he did a lot of great things for Disney.
@Philip Kippel but he did more good things. The people that give him flack also don't give him credit for all the things he did good.
I'd agree that most people either love or hate him and falsely compare him to Walt. Walt made a lot of mistakes during his time as did Eisner. To compare them you have to look at the pros and cons of both. Eisner's flack is justified to some degree, but we have to think that both animation and theme parks wouldn't be where they are without his leadership. His partnering with Pixar gets overlooked but without the distribution from Disney, Pixar might have never gotten off the ground. Eisner also brought in connections for theme park attractions like Star Tours and the Indiana Jones ride. Basically the forefathers of the Wizarding World and Galaxy's Edge. -Angie
I'd rather have eisner than Iger
Maybe someday there will be a second part, where will explains how he crushed everything what he builded up
They need to make another biopic where Michael Eisner is played by Michael Rapaport & Howard Ashman is played by Pete Davidson!
I'm not going to lie Michael looks like Mr Belding off of saved by the Bell
I mean....you aren't wrong
I remember having promotional tapes for the Disney cruiseline as a kid. Not quite sure why my family had them, but I remember wishing I we could take a vacation on a disney cruise
I speak for everyone even Eisner himself... NOBODY CAN TOP UNCLE WALT. But he had a fantastic run. The departure of Katsinberg and the death of Wells could have been an immediate downfall. But he held his own for a little while longer. I would say after 1999 is when it was obvious he had run his course. At least he left better than most in his situation... he went to Disneyland!
I think history will or even already has looked back on Eisner's run as a good time for the company overall
You deserve more views!
Stefano Yess
I was introduced to Micheal Eisner through Family Guy, please don't hurt me
No need to hurt anyone. I think everyone finds their form of history in their own way. Family Guy has actually been really good at bringing older figures to the forefront again. -Josh
"Bring Money!"
Chad Hawksworth Amen
wow
same, a shame that they didn't bring him back when he was kicked out of disney wonder if they would do it would he be crazy
Great Video Angie!
Peter Carreiro Yes
Let’s see how long this video can go before Kevin Perjurer of Defunctland sees this.
Why do you say that? Defunctland is great. We've actually invited him to collaborate with us several times. -Josh
Was kind of expecting him to show up in a comment here since roasting Eisner is one of his biggest running jokes.
Hello.
Can you do a video about disney legends, walt's nephew roy e. Disney, the man who brought his uncle's company back to life in the 80's
The lion king is the greatest movie ever
Where did you find out about Eisner being friends with Spielberg? I tried looking but google isn't helping me.
Of course he beat out the other candidates to host the television show... he was in charge of choosing the host. He chose himself
I believe it was actually something he didn't want to do and the board of directors would have been involved in choosing him. Angie
In his time every thing Disney was awesome and great not do dry and boring like it is now, they were fools to ask him to step down
I'd argue that while he swung for the fences and had a ton of great hits at Disney, he also made some major mistakes that cost the company, especially after the death of Frank Wells passed away as he was definitely a great funnel for Eisner's ideas. I totally get the nostalgia for his time running Disney and how he fairs in comparison to others that have run the company, but I wouldn't want him to be CEO now as I think by the time he transitioned out of the role he had spent all his creativity as CEO.
"An idea woman" you mean like Kathleen Kennedy?lol...
HE IS NOT A DISNEY LEGEND HE IS A BAD BAD MANAGER SOMEONE THAT ALMOST KILLED THE DISNEY THEME PARKS AND HE SPENDET LOTS OF MONEY BAD BAD BAD GOSH i hate him and his ideas SUPERSTAR LIMO OH YEAH THAT COULD WORK no michael it could not
Yeah, Superstar Limo was a really really stupid idea.
Superstar Limo really was awful, but there is a larger story to why California Adventure didn't work initially. In part it was due to Disneyland Paris failing and taking away money from future projects, and the other is the local Anaheim government not wanting the WestCot park at all, which would have given the West Coast its own Epcot park. The end result should have been them canceling plans altogether rather than creating a makeshift park, but they did what they had money for and what the city of Anaheim would allow. Many people forget that despite California Adventure being bad, it opened only 3 years after Animal Kingdom did in Florida and that park has continued to become people's favorite park at Walt Disney World for years. -Angie
@@ModernMouse You know that Eisner awso was the Problem behind the fail of disneyland Paris i just hate that guy
Yes, they miscalculated what the Europeans would want from a Disney theme park, and the company felt that ripple effect with everything they did in the parks after, but without Eisner, Disney would have been sold off and not exist any longer. Without Eisner Pixar wouldn’t have gotten the distribution needed to become a major player in animation. There are definitely reasons to criticize his run, but he should also be commended for the things he and his team got right.
@@ModernMouseFor me he is just a businesman
Disney needs Michael Eisner back and to get rid of Iger and his wokester supporters on the board and in management.
I don't think people remember Eisner's reign, especially in his later years. I don't think he or you really want him back. There is more to gain in a younger CEO with a different energy.
@@ModernMouse Actually, I remember it quite well and I do want him back. He could return to oversee a transitional interim phase. He is very well respected inside Disney and with those he would need to work with including the Florida government and all sides of the board, knows the workings pretty well, can be brought up to speed faster than anyone new that is not a slave to the wokesters' idiotology. If the new CEO is named by Iger, nothing positive will happen.
@@richardjames4997 It wouldn't be Iger who appoints a new CEO, it's the board of directors, which Iger is currently no longer on. (He was until 2021.) Former Nike CEO Mark Mark Palmer currently is head of the board. If anyone is to make a decision about who is next in line, it's him. He's been a part of the board since 2016 and during his time at Nike he was a proponent of making Colin Kaepernick a spokesman of Nike. I'm personally not one to use the word "woke" any longer as I think it's lost all meaning and is just a stand in for whatever doesn't align with someone's current politics, but I will say that whomever the board puts in charge, as long as Mark Palmer is running things, they will likely veer progressive, much like Disney has for decades when it comes to social issues.
@@ModernMouse Excellent and interesting analysis. Thank you.
I do believe Iger, still has a lot of influence on Palmer, Fink, O'Hanley, and Buckley, all of whom are very pro-woke. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Kennedy is nominated as CEO.
I believe bringing back Eisner to initiate and oversee the restructuring of Disney and assisting of the prepping of a new CEO would help deescalate the tension within the board, shareholders, banks and state of Florida. Eisner can talk to and even argue with people without being condescending. He is also a lot more experienced and learned since leaving Disney
Side note: I personally like the related terms "wokesters" and "idiotology" and hope Oxford, and Merriam-Webster add them to their dictionaries.